Report: Expanded E3 Due In June 2009

Author: by Staff

The ESA is on the verge of announcing an expanded E3 show, to take place in June 2009 at the LA Convention Center, according to multiple media reports. The next event will feature a much larger showfloor and expanded publisher presence. The announcement of the revamped show is scheduled for Tuesday morning U.S. time, but several sources, including G4's X-Play and Newsweek's N'Gai Croal, have debuted similar - if subtly conflicting - information about E3 2009. All parties seem to agree that the expanded show will feature a much more lax admittance policy, allowing more media, retail associates and bloggers to attend the show, which will have a major presence on Tuesday June 2nd through Thursday June 4th at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The overall suggestion is that a radical attendee expansion from this year's show, which was deliberately capped at just a few thousand attendees, will occur, allowing more of a spectacle, larger press conference, and a bigger booth presence for major publishers. Where the accounts currently differ is on whether the show will open to the public - Newsweek's Croal believes it will, on the Friday and Saturday, June 5th and 6th - pegging the maximum attendance at around 40,000. [UPDATE: Croal has added an additional statement on his weblog, indicating that "our original source's statement that there would be an extra two days specifically set aside for the public -- Friday June 5th and Saturday June 6th -- may have been incorrect."] However, other sources, including G4 and reports from weblog Kotaku, believe an expanded and relaxed media attendee attitude will be tried over just three days of the show, thus returning to the 'E3 of old' approach, where those connected to the industry, even peripherally, made an appearance. [UPDATE: The ESA is currently offering a 'no comment' to any media outlets approaching it, indicating that it will announce the specifics on the revamped show when it is ready.]